Cognitive Load is defined as "the total amount of cognitive activity imposed on working memory at an instance in time." Humans have both stored memory and working memory. Working memory requires conscious thinking and can therefore hold less items that long term, or more permanent memory. In other words, skills that require items in long term memory are more like habits and can be done without conscious thought. For example, a child learning to tie his or her shoes must conscious think about each step: putting on the shoes, the crossover, the pull through, the bow, etc. An adult, however, can put on and tie his or shoes without thinking about it and can therefore have a conversation, plan the day, or do something else at the same time. This is because that action has been repeated so many times, the steps have now been transferred to long term memory and no longer require conscious thought and therefore conscious thought (or working memory) can therefore be used for more complicated tasks. The goal, in education, is to take new skills and eventually have students transfer those skills to long term memory so that working memory can be used for more complicated, higher order thinking activities. The following essay will discuss ways for educators to optimize the working memory and therefore reduce the cognitive load.
According to Dr. John Sweller, there are three types of cognitive load: extraneous, intrinsic, and germane. I will begin with extraneous. Extraneous cognitive load refers to the unimportant details about whatever it is that we are trying to learn that may distract us from the real learning goal. Extraneous load is due to the design of the instructional materials and is the cognitive load that teachers have the most control over. As Jane Bozarth explains, "think of the brain as having only so much “bandwidth”; information enters the brain through two channels, visual and auditory. The channels can carry only so much data at a time." Presentations and learning materials should only include items that are directly involved with the material and aid in the understanding of the material. Anything else is extraneous and should be removed. One example given is in teaching geometric shapes such as triangles. A teacher is much better off showing what a triangle is by drawing a picture rather than describing in words what a triangle is. The picture gives a simpler, more direct way to understand a triangle and requires less processing in the brain than processing words to understand a triangle. In the end, the learner will be developing a picture in his or her mind of what a triangle is so showing a picture is a much more direct way to get there. Determining what is extraneous can be tricky since this is different sometimes for different learners. For example, I am much more of a visual learner, so when given the choice between watching and listening to a video that describes something I am trying to learn and reading an article about that information, I am much more likely to choose the article. I learn best by focusing on the words and reading has become much more of a long term memory skill for me because I enjoy reading and have transferred so many written words to long term memory. The video, on the other hand, takes much more focus and concentration for me because listening to and processing words is more of a working memory skill for me. For many other people, the exact opposite is true. Therefore when considering instructional design, it is best to have options for the learner to choose what is the best for his or her type of learning.
Intrinsic cognitive load is the difficulty in the concept itself, not in the design of the concept. The teacher has no control over the amount of working memory required in intrinsic cognitive load and therefore must keep in mind the difficulty of the learning task when designing a lesson. One way to deal with teaching especially complex processes is to cut the processes into smaller steps called "chunking". For example, in order for students to approach the sometimes daunting process of researching and writing a paper, teachers will design a lesson that takes students through smaller, more manageable steps before having them assemble the final product. In mathematics, teachers can introduce easier to understand, simpler mathematical models before having students tackle understanding of much more complex, but related models. Furthermore, math teachers can break complex mathematical problems into a series of less complex steps learned previously with the goal of later putting them together to solve a more difficult problem. For example, in geometry, coordinate geometry involves concepts learned previously in algebra such as points, lines, and formulas for coordinate planes and also solving equations, along with the new concepts learned in geometry such as characteristics of and relationships between geometric shapes. By teaching the skills separately first, teachers are able to prepare students for the much more difficult task of solving coordinate geometry problems which requires them to put all the skills together to solve one problem.
Germane cognitive load is often referred to as motivation and interest in the proposed topic. The way a problem is presented can effect the amount of effort the learner will use in order to solve the problem. Goal free problems can be excellent ways for an instructor to prevent a learner from concentrating on the end goal and working backwards, which does nothing to aid the learner in learning the process in which to solve the problem. Often, when asked for an "answer", the learner will concentrate on that rather than the information given and how it should be used to reach the goal. In my classes, I often explain to my students that the final answer is really the least important part of solving the problem. The way in which the given information is used to reach the goal, and strategies chosen to use that information are much more important in the learning process. Therefore, when no goal is given, the motivation of finding the answer is removed and learners are forced to deal with the information presented, to extract what is important and relevant for themselves.
In conclusion, while teachers have little control over the difficulty of the information or tasks that are part of the curriculum that they must teach, they do have control over how they present the information they are trying to teach and can design lessons in the most efficient ways to accomplish this. Understanding your audience, whether they are experts, novices, or a combination of both, is an essential part of teaching and creating a "one sized fits all" type of lesson is usually detrimental to learning. Also understanding the complexity of whatever it is you are trying to teach is also important and may sometimes involve breaking the task into more manageable tasks so as not to overload the conscious memory. The more you can encourage your students to develop schemas (those tasks that have been moved to long term memory so that they no longer require conscious thought to accomplish), the easier it will be for those students to then use those tasks to help them accomplish more difficult tasks and therefore students can be given problems that require more deep and complex to solve.
"Nuts and Bolts: Brain Bandwidth - Cognitive Load Theory and Instructional Design by Jane Bozarth : Learning Solutions Magazine." Learning Solutions Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2016.
Crossword Lab Puzzle:
Click on the following link to access the crossword puzzle involving words related to cognitive load. You will use the words:
intrinsic, extraneous, germane, bandwidth, working, longterm, expert, novice, multimedia, module, and chunking. https://crosswordlabs.com/view/cognitive-load-theory24
Jeopardy Lab Puzzle:
Click on the following link to access my Jeopardy Lab on Cognitive Load Theory
Cognitive Load Theory
Table of Contents
According to Dr. John Sweller, there are three types of cognitive load: extraneous, intrinsic, and germane. I will begin with extraneous. Extraneous cognitive load refers to the unimportant details about whatever it is that we are trying to learn that may distract us from the real learning goal. Extraneous load is due to the design of the instructional materials and is the cognitive load that teachers have the most control over. As Jane Bozarth explains, "think of the brain as having only so much “bandwidth”; information enters the brain through two channels, visual and auditory. The channels can carry only so much data at a time." Presentations and learning materials should only include items that are directly involved with the material and aid in the understanding of the material. Anything else is extraneous and should be removed. One example given is in teaching geometric shapes such as triangles. A teacher is much better off showing what a triangle is by drawing a picture rather than describing in words what a triangle is. The picture gives a simpler, more direct way to understand a triangle and requires less processing in the brain than processing words to understand a triangle. In the end, the learner will be developing a picture in his or her mind of what a triangle is so showing a picture is a much more direct way to get there. Determining what is extraneous can be tricky since this is different sometimes for different learners. For example, I am much more of a visual learner, so when given the choice between watching and listening to a video that describes something I am trying to learn and reading an article about that information, I am much more likely to choose the article. I learn best by focusing on the words and reading has become much more of a long term memory skill for me because I enjoy reading and have transferred so many written words to long term memory. The video, on the other hand, takes much more focus and concentration for me because listening to and processing words is more of a working memory skill for me. For many other people, the exact opposite is true. Therefore when considering instructional design, it is best to have options for the learner to choose what is the best for his or her type of learning.
Intrinsic cognitive load is the difficulty in the concept itself, not in the design of the concept. The teacher has no control over the amount of working memory required in intrinsic cognitive load and therefore must keep in mind the difficulty of the learning task when designing a lesson. One way to deal with teaching especially complex processes is to cut the processes into smaller steps called "chunking". For example, in order for students to approach the sometimes daunting process of researching and writing a paper, teachers will design a lesson that takes students through smaller, more manageable steps before having them assemble the final product. In mathematics, teachers can introduce easier to understand, simpler mathematical models before having students tackle understanding of much more complex, but related models. Furthermore, math teachers can break complex mathematical problems into a series of less complex steps learned previously with the goal of later putting them together to solve a more difficult problem. For example, in geometry, coordinate geometry involves concepts learned previously in algebra such as points, lines, and formulas for coordinate planes and also solving equations, along with the new concepts learned in geometry such as characteristics of and relationships between geometric shapes. By teaching the skills separately first, teachers are able to prepare students for the much more difficult task of solving coordinate geometry problems which requires them to put all the skills together to solve one problem.
Germane cognitive load is often referred to as motivation and interest in the proposed topic. The way a problem is presented can effect the amount of effort the learner will use in order to solve the problem. Goal free problems can be excellent ways for an instructor to prevent a learner from concentrating on the end goal and working backwards, which does nothing to aid the learner in learning the process in which to solve the problem. Often, when asked for an "answer", the learner will concentrate on that rather than the information given and how it should be used to reach the goal. In my classes, I often explain to my students that the final answer is really the least important part of solving the problem. The way in which the given information is used to reach the goal, and strategies chosen to use that information are much more important in the learning process. Therefore, when no goal is given, the motivation of finding the answer is removed and learners are forced to deal with the information presented, to extract what is important and relevant for themselves.
In conclusion, while teachers have little control over the difficulty of the information or tasks that are part of the curriculum that they must teach, they do have control over how they present the information they are trying to teach and can design lessons in the most efficient ways to accomplish this. Understanding your audience, whether they are experts, novices, or a combination of both, is an essential part of teaching and creating a "one sized fits all" type of lesson is usually detrimental to learning. Also understanding the complexity of whatever it is you are trying to teach is also important and may sometimes involve breaking the task into more manageable tasks so as not to overload the conscious memory. The more you can encourage your students to develop schemas (those tasks that have been moved to long term memory so that they no longer require conscious thought to accomplish), the easier it will be for those students to then use those tasks to help them accomplish more difficult tasks and therefore students can be given problems that require more deep and complex to solve.
Resources:
"Cognitive Load Theory." Cognitive Load Theory: Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2016.
"Cognitive Load." Cognitive Load - EduTech Wiki. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2016.
"Nuts and Bolts: Brain Bandwidth - Cognitive Load Theory and Instructional Design by Jane Bozarth : Learning Solutions Magazine." Learning Solutions Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2016.
Crossword Lab Puzzle:
Click on the following link to access the crossword puzzle involving words related to cognitive load. You will use the words:
intrinsic, extraneous, germane, bandwidth, working, longterm, expert, novice, multimedia, module, and chunking.
https://crosswordlabs.com/view/cognitive-load-theory24
Jeopardy Lab Puzzle:
Click on the following link to access my Jeopardy Lab on Cognitive Load Theory
http://jeopardylabs.com/play/cognitive-load-theory18